Numerous different service providers offer online messaging services, such as email and instant messaging. Such messaging services allow subscribers to communicate electronically through a wireless network, Internet, LAN, and/or other communication media. Subscribers are identified within each messaging service by a unique identifier, such as an identifier (e.g., a screen name) or email address. An instant messaging service offers users the ability to communicate with other users who are online and signed onto the instant messaging service who are on the same instant messaging service. Generally, each subscriber stores the identifiers of other subscribers with whom he communicates using instant messages in a contact list that is associated with the instant messaging service. The contact list may be stored locally on the subscriber's computer, PDA, or other communication device and/or may be stored remotely on a server associated with the instant messaging service.
Yet subscribers may only communicate with other subscribers. Thus, if a subscriber wants to switch to or add a new instant messaging service, the contact list for the original instant messaging service is not usable on the new service. Accordingly, if the subscriber wants to continue to exchange instant messages with some or all of the same people on the new service, the subscriber must first determine which of those people subscribe to the new service and/or convince others to switch to or add the new service, find out the identifier on the new service for each of the other people, and manually add each such identifier to the subscriber's contact list on the new service.